RamJam FM: David Rodigan Joins BBC Radio 2

Words by Jesse Serwer

We don’t have national terrestrial radio stations here in the US but if we did, we imagine getting a new reggae show onto the biggest one that there is would feel like a very big deal. That’s what’s happening tonight—well, right now, actually—in the UK, as radio and soundclash legend (and former Shinehead DJ) David Rodigan begins a new, stream-able weekly slot on BBC Radio 2, which claims an international audience of 13 million listeners. The selector known as “Ram Jam” (and, to video game players, as the voice of Grand Theft Auto‘s RamJam FM) will, in his own words, be playing “Jamaican popular music stretching back over the past 50 years, from ska to rocksteady and reggae, and also introducing new and recent hits,” from 11 pm to midnight on BBC2. While the gig appears only temporary for now—he’s signed up for a 10-week run—Rodigan will continue to hold down his regular Sunday night slot on London’s KISS-FM.